Amy Devonport and The Slytherin Vigilante
by Calthis
Summary: Amy is a muggleborn Ravenclaw, completely new to the wizarding world. Artemis is a pureblood Slytherin, raised to be the best. They shouldn't exactly be friends, but children hardly care about the rules that divide and unite adults. Together, they explore Hogwarts to discover all its secrets - especially the secret of the third floor corridor.


Chapter One: The Castle

It had only been three weeks but Amy had already learnt that not everyone welcomed her 'type' into the wizarding world. It was only a few people, but as she had learnt helping her father with his work, a couple of splinters hurt just as much as the whole block of wood hitting you. Fortunately the few people were easy to avoid, especially when they all seemed to wear green. For now, anyway.

Amy carried a stack of books to return to the library. It was a stack so big that she had to slow down and peer around it to get safely down the stairs. Luckily for her, all the staircases stayed still for her journey. But in her intent focus on the stairs, Amy forgot to check down the corridors before entering them. She only remembered when an all to familiar voice up ahead.

"Oi, Devonport! Reading all those books won't make you a real witch!"

Biting her bottom lip lightly, Amy kept her eyes determinedly down. She focused on walking. It wouldn't be too many steps before she'd be passed the small gang of girls. Unless they followed her, but Amy pretended to be blissfully ignorant of that possibility.

"Didn't you hear me, muggle?"

"I'm not a muggle" Amy wanted to say, wanted to protest, even wanted to shout and fling the Slytherin's insults back in her face. But she couldn't make herself speak. All she could do was freeze as they blocked her path, her eyes stuck on the floor as she gripped her books. Eye contact only seemed to rile them up. Maybe if she didn't look, they'd leave her alone.

No such luck.

The top book of the pile was snatched away and held up for inspection.

" _Extendable Charms and Other Helpful Spells_?" the girl read out scornfully. "As if you could ever hope to complete any such charm. It takes someone with real magic to do it."

Amy flinched as the book was dropped carelessly at her feet – an action that made the girls laugh. "You scared, muggle?" one taunted.

"Parkinson, leave the girl alone" a bored voice practically drawled from behind Amy, making her start. She hadn't even heard anyone approach.

"You stay out of this, Eldridge. It's none of your business" Parkinson sneered. Her dislike for the Eldridge girl was palpable.

The newcomer spoke again, sounding just as careless. "It is when you're blocking the whole corridor. Get out of the way."

"I assumed you were siding against your own kind for a muggleborn."

"My kind? You hardly qualify, Parkinson. Now get out of the way and leave the girl alone" she said, stepping forward so Amy could just see her out of the corner of her eye.

"You can't tell me what to do!"

The girl sighed. "Get out of the way. Now" she repeated. This time, the words were loaded with unspoken threat.

Parkinson rolled her eyes and scoffed, but obeyed, much to Amy's surprise but was careful to knock Amy so all her books tumbled to the floor. It was hardly the first time she had done it. Amy sighed and knelt down to pick them up.

"Sorry about Parkinson" the girl said, picking up a couple of books.

"Thanks for getting her to leave" Amy said shyly, before holding out a hand for a handshake. "I'm Amy Devonport by the way."

Then she saw the Slytherin crest on the girl's robes, and faltered. A Slytherin wouldn't want to shake a muggleborn's hand. Amy started to withdraw her hand, only to have the girl take it without hesitation.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Artemis Eldridge, but you can call me Art if you like. It's a lot less pretentious and pureblood, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess" she said, still surprised by the friendliness she showed. Everyone had said the Slytherins were stuck up snobs who refused to socialise outside their own house.

Artemis grinned, appearing to follow her exact train of thought. "You haven't met many decent Slytherins, have you?"

"Not really" Amy had to answer.

"Poor girl" Artemis said, without a single trace of mockery and finally, Amy was comfortable enough to look at her properly. Artemis was about the same height as her with fantastically fair skin, red-gold hair in two long French braids and dark green eyes. All Amy could think was that Artemis was an almost unfairly pretty girl. She seemed so different from Amy's own pale blonde hair and light blue eyes. More colourful and more vibrant. Amy smiled at her and Artemis grinned back at her easily.

"Are you going to the library?" Artemis asked. "I'll help you carry your books. I'm going there anyway to meet up with my sister."

"Thanks. You have a sister?" Amy asked as they started to walk. Her mother had always told her to make friends you should find out about them and find common ground.

"I have three. One of every kind."

"Every kind?"

"Older sister, twin sister and younger sister."

"A twin? That's neat. Identical or…?"

"Fraternal" Artemis said quickly. "Definitely fraternal. We don't look alike any more than our other sisters do."

Amy nodded, biting back hundreds of other questions about twins, assuming they'd just annoy her. Artemis glanced at her and grinned. "No, we can't read each other's minds, but we can't lie to each other. We don't speak in sync ever, and hardly ever finish each other's sentences. And we definitely do not dress alike."

Amy flushed slightly and ducked her head. "I guess everyone asks those questions."

"Oh yes, everyone. They get really old after a little while, especially when they ask if Fliss and I are identical" Artemis said, rolling her eyes in scorn at those past questions.

Amy nodded, biting her lip again, feeling embarrassed that she had also been one to ask the question. She pushed open the library door, holding it open for Artemis to come through as well. "Thanks for helping me with my books" Amy said, taking the rest of them from Artemis.

"Don't mention it. See you around, Amy" Art said, giving her a wave as she heading off into the library. She didn't seem to notice the evil glare she got from the librarian for daring to speak. Amy watched her go for a moment, almost amazed by how unfazed the other girl was by the people around her. If only she could be that confident. Shaking her head slightly, Amy went about her own way.

"Does that book have a good section on the levitating spell?" Felicity asked softly, in a voice perfectly suited to the library.

Her cousin looked up from his book. "Yeah, do you want it after me?"

"Yes, please."

That was all they dared to speak for fear that they'd attract the attention of the librarian. It wouldn't help them get their essays done if they were kicked out of the library. The both of them went back to their books, scrawling their notes.

Moments later, Artemis appeared and sat down with a flourish beside her sister. "Hello, Fliss. What are you doing here, cousin? I thought it was uncool to be seen with girls?"

Felicity did her best to shush Artemis, but as always, the exercise was futile. Their cousin just gave her an unimpressed look and ignored her entirely. Artemis leaned over and poked him repeatedly to get his attention.

"Draco. Draco. Draco. Draco. Draco."

Finally, he snapped. "What?" he exclaimed sharply, slamming his book down on the table. In an instant, Madam Pince appeared from around the corner, fury shining in her eyes at both the noise and the treatment of the book.

"You!" she hissed, pointing menacingly at Draco.

Before Draco had a chance to defend himself – probably by throwing the blame at Artemis or otherwise becoming aggressive – Artemis spoke. "Sorry, Madam, that was my fault. I came up too quietly behind him and gave him a surprise. It won't happen again."

Madam Pince glared at Artemis for a moment, taking in the innocent upturned face of the first year, trying to decide just how honest the girl was being. Despite her suspicions, she could find no trace of dishonesty and eventually have to huff and turn away, disappearing back down the aisles of books.

"You're welcome, cousin dear" Artemis said, turning back to him with a grin. "You owe me one."

Draco glared at her. "You're the one who got me in trouble in the first place, cousin dear" he said, repeating the endearment in a voice so thick with sarcasm it made Artemis grin.

"Stop talking or we all really will get in trouble" Felicity said, a little anxiously as she looked back the way the librarian had disappeared. She had the feeling that the woman was lurking somewhere just out of sight, waiting for the opportunity to pounce and get the children away from all her precious books. Felicity looked at her sister a little pleadingly, knowing it was Artemis who would be the one to be too loud out of the three of them.

Artemis gave Felicity a smile and friendly nudge. "Okay, okay, Fliss. I'll behave" she said before picking up a textbook and starting work on her own essay. Looking a little relieved, Felicity returned to her own work, an atmosphere of studious quiet settling back over the library corner.

 _Hello, everyone, thanks for reading. This story is based on a role play game a friend and I played over about a month last year, Art and Amy being the characters we created and played. Hopefully you'll return for future chapters (which will hopefully not be too far away…)._

 _Calthis_


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